Rotary steam-engine.



w. M. FARROW, JR. I ROTARY STEAM ENGINE. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 22,1908.

Patented July 13, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Patented July 13, 1909. HTS-SHEET 2.

2 SEE W. M. FARROW, IR,

ROTARY STEAM ENGINE.

APPLIOATIOII FILED SBPT.2Z,1908.

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ROTARY STEALLENGINE.

Application filed September 22, 1908.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 13, 1909.

Serial No. 464,220.

To all whom it may concern:

lie it known that l, Winona) iilni'ro'x Fain now, J12, a citizen of the United States, residing at Washington, in the District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful linproven'ients in Rotary Stcamd lngines. of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

in rotary steam engines of the class consisting of a pair of cylinders openinginto ach other at their periphcrical surfaces with pistons to turn in said cylinders in periphcrical contact. with each other and with piston heads adapted to pass one another at gaps or recesses in the periphery of the pistons, it is 'iractically ditlicult to mount or assemble the parts especially when the cylinder pair is duplicated, so as to avoid the dead center.

The principal object of the present invention is to produce an engine in which any number of cylinders may be secured on a shaft and then embedded and incloscd in a suitable casing which for this purpose is made of two parts. The joint formed by the parts however breaks t he smoothness of the surface and the ordinary packings of the pistons cannot pass as easily as necessary. I therefore have devised a new packing for the piston heads which may be called a roller packing and which coo 'ierates with the joints of the casing as. if the latter was cast in one piecev In the accompanying drawings, embodying my invention, Figure l is an end view of the engine, Fig. 2 is a cross-section, Fig. 2 is a detail view of the packing rods, and Fig. I is a longitudinal section on line i\ l ig.

(hi a shaft 1 provided with a fly whet-1.2 and a belt-pulley 5), a number of pistons t, 5, 6 can be mounted each running in a separate compartment"of the outer casing T which compartments are formed by partitions h and 9 having suitable central sleeves or hubs for the shaft 1. lhis shaft and the companion shaft 1 carry at one end the cog-wheels it) and it by which the pistons are geared in the ordinary well known manner. ()ne. shaft, carries besides a small gear wheel 12 engag ing a larger gear wheel (preferably oi double size) 13 for the valve mechanism as will be hereinafter described.

The casing 7' is made of a lower part and upper part jointed by flames and bolts 7. This way of mosh-action permits of bulging the shafts fully mounted with the pistons i, 5 and t and partitions 8 and 9 in place, so that the partitions S and E) sink into appropriate grooves where a cement may be used for tightening. The upper part of the easing with the valve mechanism can then be placed and bolted. upon thebottom; part, whereupon the end plates are secured and t'inally the wheels are wedged to the shafts, so that without much trouble the whole engine is ready to operate.

The pistons are packed in the ordinary way against the end plates and partitions by rings 1t pressed outward by springs and the edges of the piston heads are provided with a special packing which permits them to run easily across the joints 7. To this end 1 drill a hole longitudinally into the outer edge of each piston head, and tile or turn the edge down, till the hole is open on its whole length, presenting a narrow slit.

The holes or bores 15 are used to form the housing for a cylindrical rod or roller 16 of somewhat smaller diameter than the bore. it is evident, that the parts of the rollers projecting through the slit will be pressed by centrifugal power against the inner wall of the casing with sutlicient. force to prevent the motor tluid from passing around the edge of the piston head. Small channels 17 may be provided besides to admit steam behind a roller 16 and press it outwardly in addition to the centrifugal power.

Vhen a piston head passes the joint/i", it will easily roll over it and always keep a tight joint. The end faces of the piston heads are packed in a similar manner and bores 15 inclosc rollers similar to the rods 16, the top ends being notched as shown in Fig. 2 to tit against the ends of the rod lti. "the top part of the casing 7 is provided with a massive block 15% bolted or otherwise socured thereto and provided with a longitudinal bore slightly tapering from one end to the mile and adaptcdto receive a rotary valve plug 15) to one outer end of which the cog-wheel 13 is secured so that the valve plug by means of the gear wheels 12 and 13 receives a constant and uniform rotary motion from the shaft, preferably at the ratio of 1:33, that is the valve plug makes only halt a revolution for every t'ull turn of the pistons.

st am chest 20 is secured upon the block 18 and admits steam or any motive fluid to the ports ot' the valve plug by slit openings 

